A Lleyn Sweep for Local Sheep? Breed Societies and the Geographies of Welsh Livestock

Journal of Rural Studies

Paragahawewa

2011

261

186

a b s t r a c tEvidence is emerging from across Europe that contemporary agri-environmental schemes are having only limited, if any, influence on farmers' long-term attitudes towards the environment. In this theoretical paper we argue that these approaches are not 'culturally sustainable', i.e. the actions are not becoming embedded within farming cultures as part of conventional 'good farming' practice. We propose (following Bourdieu) that, in order to culturally embed the environmental values, beliefs and knowledges that underlie such schemes, policy-makers need to devise approaches that allow the creation of cultural and social capital within farming communities e rather than simply compensating for economic capital lost. We outline the theoretical basis of our position and discuss how the contemporary agri-environmental approach of paying for specified environmental management services restricts the ability of such schemes to generate cultural and, thereby, social capital. Finally, we outline two possible ways of accounting for cultural capital in scheme creation: either through the development of measures of cultural capital that enable its incorporation into contemporary economic models or through a major revision to the way we construct and apply agri-environmental schemes.

Section: The Impact Of Current Voluntary Agri-environmental Schemes Omentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Measuring Cultural Capital For Inclusion In Economic Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Creating culturally sustainable agri-environmental schemes

Journal of Rural Studies

Paragahawewa

2011

261

186

“…While landscapes managed for livestock are also an important part of farming cultures (e.g. Burton, 2004;Yarwood & Evans, 2006) it is the ordered arable landscapes that are often the centre of differences between farmers and the public (van den Berg et al, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Farmers' Aesthetic Preference for Tidy Agricultural Landscapes: A Bourdieusian Perspective

2012

Landscape Research

Studies of landscape aesthetics based on photographic assessment indicate that farmers have a unique perspective-seeing beauty in the same ordered and controlled arable agricultural landscapes that almost all other publics find monotonous and boring. This paper uses Bourdieu's theory of capital to explore why farmers hold this perspective. Interpretations farmers place on 'tidy' features such as straight lines and evenly coloured fields were explored through a cross-cultural study between Germany and Scotland. Results show how farmers 'read' agricultural landscapes for signs of skilled farming, and how their interpretation is dependent on knowledge of the connection between efficient farming practices and the appearance of forms and colours in the fields. The implications of agricultural landscape aesthetics for the development of cultural and social capital are discussed.

“…Holloway (2001) illustrated the ethical complexity of the relationship between people and their livestock by focusing on hobby-farms, where there was conflict between the animal's role as a pet and its consumption, and, in a later paper, Holloway (2007) explored how farming technologies (milking facilities) mediate the relationship between humans and animals. Yarwood and Evans (2006) employed the sociological concept of 'habitus' (effectively, socialised and embodied predispositions e Bourdieu, 1998) to explore the cultural value of Welsh livestock and its connectedness with farming communities. Finally, Gray's (1998) work exploring consubstantiality between sheep, the farm, and the farm family offers further insights into how the identity of the farmer becomes intertwined with that of his/her animals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building ‘cowshed cultures’: A cultural perspective on the promotion of stockmanship and animal welfare on dairy farms

Journal of Rural Studies

Peoples

Cooper

2012

a b s t r a c tImproving animal welfare is an important part of the development of the agricultural industry, particularly at a time when intensification and the encroachment of factory-style production systems is making the maintenance of human-animal relations increasingly difficult. Animal science deals with the issue of improving stockmanship by focusing on the relationships between attitudes and behaviour, under the premise that improved attitudes will lead to improved behaviour. From an analysis of 42 interviews with owners, sharemilkers and workers on dairy farms in New Zealand we present a different view, seeing behaviour instead as part of a self-reinforcing culture in which animals, humans and the physical structure all contribute to the development of farm specific ways of doing and being. We further suggest that changing one stockperson's attitude alone is insufficient to ensure a change in the culture as other actors e including animals and non-human actors e reinforce any existing culture that has developed, making both attitudinal and behavioural change difficult. We conclude by discussing the key importance of designing farm systems and structures that promote positive interactions between animals and humans and suggest that this, rather than simply promoting knowledge and attitudinal change, is likely to be the most effective way of maintaining stockmanship in the face of an industrialising agriculture.